Finland set to test mobile app to let passengers travel paper-free PHOTO

Finland could become the first country in the EU to trial a mobile app with digital copies of travel documents.

The country has expressed its eagerness to test out a phone app that would hold digital copies of travel documents instead of traditional paper passports. With this new technology, passengers could send information to border authorities before they go abroad, Euronews reports. 

According to a report in the Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, the European Commission reached out at the end of last year to ask if the country would be willing to participate in the pilot project.

“We are currently preparing a funding application for the Commission. The application must be submitted by the end of August. After that, it will be decided whether the project will be realised or not,” Mikko Väisänen, an inspector for the Finnish Border Guard told the newspaper.

The Commission is encouraging some member states to trial digital travel documents. With the information gathered from these tests, it could introduce the ability to cross borders with nothing but a mobile phone app across the EU.

Though it's still uncertain whether Finland's trial will go ahead, the digital documentation could first be tested on air crossings to Croatia.

Some passengers will be asked to volunteer to download the app on their phones. They will then be able to send their documentation to border authorities before they travel.

“The information is checked in advance and deleted after the trip,” Väisänen said.

The first volunteers are likely to be passengers travelling between Finland and Croatia in spring 2023 at the earliest.

For now, passengers involved in the trial will still have to carry their physical paper passports and undergo checks by border agents.

But in the long run, the aim is for people to not have to carry any documentation at all aside from their phones. Travellers could simply be identified using a photo of their face when they are boarding a plane or passing a security check.

It is hoped that these digital travel documents will make passing through a border much smoother and faster. Reducing the time of each individual check by even a small amount could cut down waiting times for passengers.